Let's talk about scent control

[Woody's Janitor]

I use cedar oil spray. I have been using it for 20 years and it works! I do wash my clothes with scent free detergent and I put them in a plastic container after drying and spray a litte cedar oil on them. When I go hunting, I will spray my boots with the cedar oil and apply a little more to my clothes, especially to my hat, gloves, and head net.

 

[RidgeHunter]

wrap a pound of weed in scentlok spray it with dead downwind and drive I-40 with the cruise set on 90 and see if the puppy can find it. while you wait for your lawyer remember that whitetails have more scent receptors than dogs.

also your breath stinks. a deer told me.

 

[RidgeHunter]

I gave up on scent control years ago. I skip the bounty dryer sheets on hunting clothes and that's about it. Noticed no change in deer encounters. Young deer seem to tolerate/be curious about human scent to some degree, old ones don't very often. Same as when I tried to practice scent control.

 

[undeg01]

wrap a pound of weed in scentlok spray it with dead downwind and drive I-40 with the cruise set on 90 and see if the puppy can find it. while you wait for your lawyer remember that whitetails have more scent receptors than dogs.

This is true, though you have to consider that those dogs have been trained to hit on that scent, no matter how slight. A deer’s response is based on the threat level perceived. If I walk down a trail and 2 minutes later a deer comes down the same trail, they might alert and bolt off. If that same deer comes down the trail 2 hrs after I did, there is no doubt there could still be some of my scent left, but that scent is now older and dissipated significantly, so that deer may not even give it a second thought.

Point is, the less scent you leave or emit, the lower the likelihood the deer perceive a threat. So although no scent control is 100%, any reduction in scent improves your chances.

 

[7stw]

I think wind direction is the most important factor. I hunt from a ground blind (same location for 5 years). I hunt with the wind out of the north so the wind is in my face. I dont hunt that blind otherwise. I dont use any scent elimination. I sit in my ground blind with a cup of hot coffee and a cigarette and wait. I've not been busted yet, maybe im lucky I dont know. I will have does in at 40 yards not even know im there. Some people use scent elimination products and I understand. But I believe wind direction is the most important factor.
But then again im old and maybe the deer just dont consider an old fart much of a threat

I am a smoker also. Hunt predators more than anything. Wind direction is paramount to me. Also stand selection and scouting. I have had mature bucks inside of 20 yards elk inside of five yards. I shoot almost as many coyotes inside of 50 with a shotgun as I do outside of 200 with a rifle. If the wind isn’t in my favor for a particular spot I change my plan. I have been busted by game but generally when a gust swirling in the wrong direction. When I’m targeting a specific deer or problem yote I have them patterned well and narrow their routine and travel pattern down to a finite area. Hunt the wind right use a good approach and if ma nature throws a curve I back out and leave.

I know some fanatical scent freaks. They make some valid points. One very successful big game guy I know well has a good point.

“How can I expect scent control soaps to wash a few months of smell off me in one bath then use a towel my wife washed in flower detergent and dried with bounty” I start in August and use unscented deodorant towels and the like for September elk season. He hikes in wearing shorts and a T-shirt he buries until after his hunt. He’s successful but willing and able to use extreme diligence in his scent control.

I believe that scent control clothing is a gimmick personally. I think we can minimize our scent but but cannot Eliminate it entirely.


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[MrShooter]

scent control is a joke

 

[CGS1]

I am a smoker also. Hunt predators more than anything. Wind direction is paramount to me. Also stand selection and scouting. I have had mature bucks inside of 20 yards elk inside of five yards. I shoot almost as many coyotes inside of 50 with a shotgun as I do outside of 200 with a rifle. If the wind isn’t in my favor for a particular spot I change my plan. I have been busted by game but generally when a gust swirling in the wrong direction. When I’m targeting a specific deer or problem yote I have them patterned well and narrow their routine and travel pattern down to a finite area. Hunt the wind right use a good approach and if ma nature throws a curve I back out and leave.

I know some fanatical scent freaks. They make some valid points. One very successful big game guy I know well has a good point.

“How can I expect scent control soaps to wash a few months of smell off me in one bath then use a towel my wife washed in flower detergent and dried with bounty” I start in August and use unscented deodorant towels and the like for September elk season. He hikes in wearing shorts and a T-shirt he buries until after his hunt. He’s successful but willing and able to use extreme diligence in his scent control.

I believe that scent control clothing is a gimmick personally. I think we can minimize our scent but but cannot Eliminate it entirely.


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I know an old guide in texas, he smokes cigars all the time he is guiding people on hunts.